1 service history
1.1 12th escort group
1.2 arctic convoys
1.3 operations in mediterranean
1.4 d-day, 6 june 1944
1.5 end of war
service history
12th escort group
from october 1941 blankney member of 12th escort group based @ derry, northern ireland. in december dispatched reinforce commander johnny walker s u-boat killer group escorting convoy hg 76 passage gibraltar.
on 17 december 1942, german submarine u-131 spotted on surface martlet of 802 nas flying escort carrier audacity , forced dive. after being damaged in depth charge attack sloop pentstemon, u-131 tried escape on surface. martlet strafed boat, shot down in process.
u-131 shelled british escort destroyers exmoor , blankney, destroyer stanley, sloops pentstemon , stork. realizing situation hopeless, crew scuttled submarine. 47 of crew survived , taken prisoner.
on 18 december, stanley spotted u-434 on surface , gave chase. submarine dived, blankney achieved firm asdic (sonar) contact , made 3 depth charge attacks. u-434 severely damaged, managed surface , allow crew escape before sinking. blankney rescued crew before returning gibraltar refuel.
arctic convoys
at start of 1942 blankney under repair @ gibraltar, before becoming part of escort arctic convoy ws 16. later provided distant cover russian convoy pq 17 , return convoy pq 13 murmansk iceland. in july 1942 blankney damaged in collision , spent 3 months in northern russia under repair, before sailing archangel part of escort of convoy pq 14.
blankney spent rest of year under repair @ loch ewe secondary role provide local escort convoy jw 51b
operations in mediterranean
during operation husky. blankney able provide air defence , shore bombardment @ bark east landing area fellow destroyer, puckeridge.
on 10 march 1944 blankney, blencathra, brecon, exmoor , destroyer uss madison, sank u-450 in western mediterranean south of ostia, @ position 41°11′n 12°27′e / 41.183°n 12.450°e / 41.183; 12.450, in co-ordinated depth charge attack. 42 crew members of submarine rescued , became prisoners of war.
on night of 2 may 1944, u-371 spotted when surfaced in middle of convoy off djidjelli on algerian coast , crash-dived. when u-boat re-surfaced detected uss menges, closed 3,000 m (3,300 yd). u-371 fired torpedo, dived. menges hit , aft third of vessel destroyed, remained afloat.
blankney in company destroyer escorts uss pride , uss joseph e. campbell, along free french destroyer escorts sénégalais , l alcyon, tasked find u-371 , employed new submarine hunting tactic called swamp . called location of known u-boat packed escort ships , aircraft, systematically search area, forcing u-boat remain submerged until batteries or air ran out , forced surface.
u-371 lay on sea-bed @ around 240 metres (790 ft) rest of day evade sonar detection, before u-boat s commander, forced surface , attempt escape in darkness. blankney , other escorts spotted submarine , opened fire, scoring several hits. u-boat returned fire, , managed hit sénégalais torpedo, causing damage. situation u-371 hopeless unable dive , faced massively superior firepower attacking destroyers. of crew jumped overboard , taken prisoner.
d-day, 6 june 1944
during operation neptune blankney member of force k gunfire support bombarding, assigned gold beach during operation allied landings in normandy.
end of war
following operation neptune, blankney deployed in , around english channel , north sea guard against attempts e-boats or u-boats laying naval mines in thames estuary. war completed when in august 1945, following vj day returned uk laid in sheerness part of reserve fleet.
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